Humboldtian

When it was discovered the arraignment of Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen had been held earlier than scheduled yesterday afternoon, Times-Standard reporter Thadeus Greenson immediately called District Attorney Paul Gallegos to ask what the hell was going on. Thad and his reporting partner John Driscoll wrangled an interview with district attorney in the D.A.'s office, and got the scoop that Gundersen has been charged with 12 counts of spousal rape, and that he pleaded not guilty to all of them at the hearing -- as reported, exclusively, in today's story in the Times-Standard.

Gallegos told John and Thad that Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Cissna was running ahead of schedule yesterday afternoon and that's why he called the case early.

However, having written about this over and over, I think something stinks here. I'm sorry, but I get the feeling that all the parties involved -- the judge and the two attornies -- collaborated to get Gundersen in and out of court, without being seen or photographed (there were was a TV crew and two daily photographers with their cameras poised outside the coutroom earlier in the afternoon) by the media, and aren't being entirely upfront with reporters.

Gundersen is in custody. Would he not have been brought from the jail for the arraignment in his inmate jumpsuit, possibly even handcuffed? Did the judge and the two attornies agree to do Gundersen a favor and hold his hearing on the sly to save the chief further humiliation?

John and Thad, congratulations on your savvy in reporting this story. The fact that the hearing was held early, out of the public eye, led to you getting a scoop. But I hope you do some further investigation into why Gundersen appeared in court while all the media was out of the building.